I have known Pierre since the early 2000s. We probably crossed paths at skating events 3 or 4 times each year and had dinner once in a great while, usually in a group. I think I had met Robbie before, but didn’t really know him. I was unemployed, Pierre worked for the corporate offices of the skating rinks, and I think Robbie worked for a tire company. In our meetings, Pierre told us his plan was to quit his job at corporate around the end of the year and cut his coaching down to one afternoon each week. That way, he could partner with us and he would have plenty of time to market the restaurant. I would work the cafe full time and Robbie would work part-time until we made enough money to pay him a salary to quit his job. The current food service company would be vacating the space on January 1, 2015.

Meanwhile, Robbie and I were the only ones talking to the rinks about renting the space. We weren’t sure if Pierre’s partnership could be considered a conflict of interest so we didn’t want to tell anyone he was involved until after he quit his job. During his time at corporate he had seen many companies rent space, so I trusted Pierre when he told us the rent was a very good deal.

In November, Pierre and I met for lunch at Prairie House. He told me he quit his job in October, but still wanted to remain invisible. That’s when he dropped the bomb. He had spent the better part of the last year preparing to adopt 3 children. That’s a big deal; adopting children whose formative years were spent in an environment so bad they had to be removed from their home and sent to foster care. I really felt he should have told us that from the very beginning. We might have decided not to open a restaurant. But by this time, I was hooked and chose to believe he would still make time to market the cafe. Besides, adopting children is a great thing.